Summary: Long ago, when Magic was real, and Dragons rose from the grave, one man took up the sword against their fiery reign of terror. But in defeating the great evil, Alduin, the warrior's trials had only just begun. Killing a Dragon God had been easy compared to what awaited him as a clan of vengeful Vampires rose against the Sun, while a seemingly immortal man desired to enslave the World, Human and Mer alike.

Finally, his trials done, he set his blade aside, and let the passages of time take him. If only it were that easy. For he is Dovhakin, one with the blood of Dragons in his veins with the power to destroy them forever by stealing their very souls from them. Dragons live for so long, yet how long does a man with several hundred Dragons souls within him have to walk the Earth?

Finally, after waiting for his death for countless centuries, he does the unthinkable and opens the gates of Oblivion, setting off the greatest war that has ever been seen. Many blamed Men for the unleashing of the Daedra upon the lands of the living, and rose against them while Men blamed the Mer for the calamity, namely the High Elves, whose greed and lust for power was unrivaled even by Men.

Seeking battle Orcs, Khajiit and Argonians joined forces against the Elves and the Men. All the while the three factions did battle against the ruthless creatures of Oblivion as well. After many years, and countless battles, the last of the Mer races and Men converged upon an open field to end the war once and for all.

With the sacrifice of many lives, the gates of Oblivion were slammed shut and forever sealed by powerful Magics that not even the tortured Dohvakin could undo. With his part in the war, the Dovhakin saw his unnaturally long life as a punishment for his sin. And so he lived on in Solitude, keeping the Ancient Knowledge of Skyrim and the Elder Races alive in his written hand. No tome he kept, however, was more precious than a single volume handcrafted in Dragon skin which held the great Words of Power. All that he had learned resided in a single, solitary book.

Solitude

The young woman looked at the boy in front of her, stunned at what she was hearing. "You're...you're leaving?" She asked as she felt a tightness forming in her chest, "Just like that? After everything that you've done?"

The boy, who was small, even compared the girl's own slight build, shrugged, "What else can I do?" He asked, "I can't be what they want me to be." He looked off toward where he knew their village lay, "All my life I've wanted to be just like everyone else," he said as he looked back at her, and then over his shoulder where a large black figure lay basking in the moonlight, "But I can't. Not after all I've learned from him."

The creature gave a soft, almost mournful croon, raising his great head from his paws as he nudged the boy with his blunt snout. The boy smiled down at his friend, and looked back at her, "I can't kill Dragons, Astrid...not anymore."

The girl, Astrid, sighed in understanding. The moment she had seen him with the sleek black Dragon she had already assumed the worst about him. And then, when she had run to the village to tell them of the traitor she thought she was...he showed her how wrong she was. How wrong they all were.

Through her flight with him on the young Dragon, Toothless, he had told her everything. How spending time with his friend had taught him how to beat Dragons without killing them. That the Dragons were just as scared as their people were. That they had a common enemy in the giant Dragon that slumbered on Dragon Island waiting to be fed.

"So," she tucked a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear, "Where're you gonna go?" She asked, "There aren't a lot of places that would accept this kind of situation you're in. Some might even demand that you teach them how to do it so that they can build an army of Dragon Riders."

The boy was at a loss for an answer and gestured uselessly with his arms. "I...don't really have a clue." He said, "But I can't stay here. Not when my dad expects me to go out there and slaughter an innocent creature that wouldn't harm me unless I did so first."

"It's going to die either way," Astrid sighed, "If you're not there to do it, Elder Gothi will just ask me to do it in your stead." She saw the look of shock on his face, "Hiccup, you really didn't think about that?"

"No, of course not!" Hiccup sank to his knees as he groaned in annoyance at himself. "How-How could I be so surprisingly stupid!"

Astrid knelt and placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort, "Hiccup, listen to me, we can figure this out." She said, "Dawn's still far off, so start thinking of a plan to make your dad see that we can - "

"Astrid, you don't understand," Hiccup looked up at her in defeat, "Dad hates dragons with a passion. He'd die, or see me dead before thinking about what it could mean for Vikings to ride Dragons!"

"But you're his son, surely he..." she trailed off as she realized that, despite his recent success in the arena, the son of Stoick the Vast was not considered the sanest of their tribe. And Stoick wasn't known for being a loving father until recently as well. Protective, overly so, but not loving. "Why does he hate them so much more than the rest of us?"

Hiccup sighed as he looked down at Toothless, "My mother was...taken during a raid." He said which caused her to gasp. She had no idea that had happened, but it certainly explained a great deal, "If Dad knew that we've been to the nest, then he'd stop at nothing to get there."

"And half of our tribe would be wiped out," Astrid nodded in agreement. Stoick could never know...not until they were ready to fight the massive Dragon sleeping there. "Alright, what do you want to do?"

"First of all, I have to free those Dragons down in the holding pens." He said, jerking his head in the direction of the village. "After that, there should be enough of an uproar to let me slip away without being noticed."

Astrid hugged herself as she felt a bitter cold seeping under her skin. "I still don't think you have to leave," she told him, though she knew that she wouldn't be able to change his mind, "Just promise me that you...that you won't do anything stupid, or crazy..." she bit her lip when she realized how she was probably making him feel.

"Or anything remotely that I'd normally do?" He asked with a lopsided grin.

A giggle bubbled up in her chest, "Yeah," she smiled at him, "That's exactly what I mean."

Hiccup nodded, "Can you help me with the Dragons?"

"I can try," she relented, "Just tell me what you need me to do."

H.T.T.Y.D

Astrid peeked around the corner of a house to make sure the coast was clear before darting across the open ground toward the training grounds where the Dragons were kept. The village was as quiet as the grave, even though dawn was nearing not a soul could be heard. As a warrioress of her tribe, Astrid had been placed on guard duty several times since her tenth year, so the girl knew quite well that with the earliest hours of the morning the guards were stepping down for what little rest the remainder of the night could bring.

Overhead she heard the rush of wind ghosting over wings as Toothless soared over her.

Hiccup's plan was a simple one. She would distract the guardsmen if there was still one around, while he and his Dragon snuck around to the main gate. Once there, he would blast the gates open, making the escape appear as a Dragon assault. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened. Toothless, while still wild, had made it a habit to free any captured Dragons whenever he was taking part in a Raid.

Ghosting around the stone walls of the arena, Astrid stole a glance around the last pillar, and cursed. Snotlout, her ever present pursuer, was on guard duty. Which meant that the noxious idiot was sound asleep.

"Astrid!" Astrid yelped as Hiccup hissed at her from above. She looked up to see the boy, and his Dragon clinging to the chain roof.

"In the name of Odin, Hiccup!" She hissed right back angrily, "You've scared me enough for one night!"

"Sorry," Toothless crawled down silently to the ground, depositing his rider next to the girl. "What are we gonna do about Snotlout?" He gestured to the snoring teen by the door.

Astrid gave him one of her {Are-You-Kidding-Me} looks before flipping her braid over her shoulder, "Just watch. And don't miss your chance!"

Hiccup arched his brow as the girl sauntered over to the sleeping guard...and nearly broke out into laughter as she kicked him over with a startled yelp. "Snotloud Jorgenson, are you sleeping on watch again!?" The girl roared in absolute fury. Snotlout groaned in answer as he staggered back to his feet, unsure of what had hit him until he felt a familiar foot in his keister. "Wake up you useless son of a half-troll!"

"Astrid?!" Snotlout yelped as he finally recognized his attacker while the girl had her hands fisted at her hips. "Babe! I bet you came out to see how totally awesome I am on guard duty, huh?" Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing, and smacked his palm against his head whilst his cousin made an absolute ass of himself...again.

"The only thing I found awesome was how loud you were snoring!" Astrid snapped as she brandished a hardened fist at his head, making him quail in fear. Hiccup took the cue, and mounted back up on Toothless as they scaled the walls once more, and moved over the top of the arena. He was treated to the sounds of Snotlout's loud boasting, and a few meaty smacks as Astrid apparently did not want to hear it.

Sneaking as quietly as the large Dragon could manage, which was quite silent given his size, the two slunk their way around behind Snotlout as Astrid was hoisting the idiot up by his tunic. Toothless reared back on his hind legs as a serpentine hiss rose from his throat. Astrid then dropped Snotlout effecting a look of shock and fear as Snotlout scrambled back to his feet.

Toothless let his throat glow with his powerful flames, and roared so loudly that Astrid had no doubts that the entire village had heard him. What happened next could have only been one of the most amusing sights Astrid could remember seeing. Snotlout screamed a high, girlish squeal and bolted. He never looked back as he ran off for the safety of the trees surrounding the village, not even caring that he had possibly just left Astrid to fend for herself against the most feared Dragon known to the Viking tribes.

Toothless and Hiccup, however, wasted no time in blasting open the gates of the arena entering as the village began to stir. Astrid was right behind the pair, axe in hand, as the Night Fury charged up another blast and utterly shattered the gate of the holding pens. Astrid stepped back then as the gate was pushed open from the inside by the prized Dragon that she had been attempting to win. The Monstrous Nightmare roared as it pushed the door open and bounded for the ruined gates followed closely by the Nadder, Gronkle, and Zippleback that had been imprisoned with it.

Shouts could be heard as the Dragons made their escape. The village was now well and truly aware of what they were doing. "What now?" She found herself asking as she looked to the Rider.

Hiccup looked at her in apology, "Something I really wish I didn't have to do."

Astrid looked at him in confusion before she felt a massive impact against her left side as Toothless' tail whipped around and flung her into the stone walls of the arena. Her breath was knocked out of her in a rush as she felt her consciousness leaving her as she looked up at the saddened pair.

"I'm so sorry," she heard him saying, his voice sounding far away, "I couldn't let them think that you had a hand in this." Her vision began to fade, "If we ever see each other again, you can hit me as hard as you want." She tried to keep herself from falling unconscious, and clawed her way toward him as the Dragon began to leave.

"W-Wait!"

Hiccup looked back at her and smiled sadly, "Please don't forget me."

Finally, her eyes rolled back up into her head as she surrendered her fight.

H.T.T.Y.D

Several hours after dawn broke, the village was in an absolute uproar over the escape, but none more so than the chief. Stoick the Vast was certainly not in the mood for any of the mad ravings of some of the villagers claiming that they had seen a Rider on the Night Fury as it fled the scene of the escape. Not only had they lost all of their Dragons, including the prized Nightmare that was to be his son's first kill, but one of his best young warriors, Astrid Hofferson, had been injured in her attempt to stop them.

According to Gothi's scratchings, the poor girl had horrible bruising around her ribs, some of which were cracked, thanks to the Night Fury. And she had yet to regain consciousness. The only other witness to the attack was the Jorgenson boy, and Stoick still had a headache from all the embellishments the young lout had piled on, some of which was utterly impossible. There was no way that he was going to believe that he had dealt the Night Fury a mortal blow when there was no trace of blood either around the scene of the escape, or on the boy's mace.

To add insult to injury his own son was missing.

If he knew his son, and he was quite sure he did, thank you very much, he figured the boy was neck deep in trouble. Today was supposed to be his day to shine brighter than he had ever shined before. To finally become a true Viking instead of spending all of his time in the forge as a blacksmith's apprentice.

"Where did you go, boy?" Stoick asked himself as he searched the boy's room. Nothing was out of sorts. It was clean, organized even. The only thing that was missing was the boy himself. Then he noticed that the helmet he had given the boy a day earlier was sitting on his bed. His mother's helmet. "Why would he leave this behind?" He bent to pick it up, and folded piece of parchment fluttered down from inside. "What?"

He picked up the paper and unfolded it.

{Dear Dad,

If you're reading this, then I'm probably long gone. There's so much I want to tell you, but so little time to write this. All that I can say for now is I can't be the son you want me to be. Not yet, anyway. All I've ever wanted to do was make you proud of me. But I kept failing every time. And when I finally started doing well in Dragon Training, I as so happy to see you smile at me like that.

But I only started doing well because I used tricks, and things I'd learned from Dragons against the ones we had locked up.}

Stoick wanted to stop reading it. To deny his son that he wasn't what he wanted. That he didn't care that his son had used tricks.

{When (If) I come back, I hope I'm someone you can be proud of, whether I'm a warrior, or a whatever I turnout to be. And I hope that you'll look at me, and smile. I love you, Dad.

Your Son, Hiccup.}

Stoick's knees chose then to give out as he sank down onto the boy's bed. Tears came unbidden to his eyes as he wept.

"Stoick!" Gobber's voice drifted to him from the halls as the man hobbled into the room, "Did'ya find the lad, yet?"

Stoick shook his head, and handed him the letter, "He's gone, Gobber." He sighed, "What did I do...what have I done that I'd drive my own son away from me?"

Gobber shook his head as read the note for himself, "Makes no sense it doesn't." He grumbled, "Lad was doin' fine he was, tricks or not."

"Maybe he was afraid of facing the Nightmare?" Stoick guessed, scrubbing his face tiredly, "I...maybe I should've listened more. He tried to tell me that he didn't want to fight Dragons anymore, but I - "

"Sure he did!" Gobber shouted, "Why wouldn't he!? Boy was making a name for himself!"

"Then maybe his tricks wouldn't work on the Nightmare?" The chief guessed again, "Gods only know what could've happened if they didn't!"

Gobber nodded in understanding. A Monstrous Nightmare was nothing to trifle with. "Maybe we can get some answers out of Astrid?" He shrugged, "Gothi told me that she's finally started to come around."

That was the first good news Stoick had heard all morning. The two friends hurried over to Gothi's home where the Hoffersons were still fussing over their daughter as the elder held a strong smelling solution under her nose.

Astrid gave a sharp snort and coughed. "What the Hel is that?"

"Astrid," the girl's mother came forward in a rush to cup the girl's face between her hands, "Dearest, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"We all are," the girl's father put in over her shoulder as he leaned in.

Gothi huffed and shooed the worried parents away from the girl as she got her bearings. Stoick was mindful of the girl, but he had questions that needed answering, and the girl was possibly the only one that could answer them.

"Astrid, I know you're tired, and hurt, but you have to tell me what happened last night," the chief said as the girl settled down, "We found you in the arena knocked unconscious with some bad bruising around your ribs. All the Dragons were gone by that time, but we don't know anymore than what Snotlout's told us."

"About that, Chief," Stenvar Hofferson chuckled, "The lad came to us a little while ago asking permission to marry her."

Astrid's eyes went wide as the girl sat straight up, ignoring the searing pain in her ribs, "What did you say?!"

"Astrid, lay back down!" Her mother yelped.

"NO! HEL NO!" She shrieked, "I'd rather die than marry that stinking, shirking coward!"

"Astrid!" Stenvar shouted.

Stoick held up his hand to calm both of them as Gothi gently laid the girl back on the cot. "You must be careful with your words, Astrid, that could be taken as a blood insult."

Astrid glared at the man, "Then let it!" Her sharp words shocked them even further, "I don't know if he's gone insane after last night, or if he's been eating mushrooms, but whatever he told you about that attack was a bold-faced, twisted, stinking pile of lies!"

Stoick slapped his knee, "The truth then, Astrid, from the top."

And Astrid gave it to him. From the moment she fibbed about looking for Hiccup because of something he had said to her earlier that day, and finding Snotlout sleeping on duty again, she might add, and up to the point that he had run away screaming and left her to deal with the Dragon on her own.

Aranea Hofferson, Astrid's mother, looked rather furious. "Whoreson."

"Dear - " Stenvar tried to quiet her, but the woman was beyond his control at this point. He himself wanted to have a few words with Spitelout about the bridal price he had offered, and where he could shove it.

Stoick shook his head, "That is not the way it was told to me," he growled as he looked at the injured girl, "I felt that he was fudging the truth, but I would not expect him to outright lie to me, or have to stupidity to take your hand in marriage in such a way."

Gothi scratched something into the dirt of her floor. "He probably hoped that she would remain asleep until after the contract was agreed upon," she scratched again, "You can expect Spitelout to want his son as your Heir, now, as well."

Stoick snorted, "My son has said that he would return," he said, and looked back to Astrid, "Did Hiccup let on to anything about his leaving?"

Astrid nodded, "It's why I was looking for him so late...or early...whichever."

"Nothing more?" Stoick pressed, but Astrid shook her head.

The girl sighed, "He's really gone?" Stoick nodded sadly, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him."

"T'wasn't your fault, lass," Stenvar sighed, feeling the chief's loss as well. "Besides, he did say that he would be back, no?"

"Aye, he did say that," Stoick relented, and rose, "You did well, Astrid, make no mistake about that. House Hofferson will be honored for this."

Astrid shook her heard, "I don't deserve that," she felt guilty enough as it was, "Just deal with Snotlout, and I'll be happy."

"On my honor," Stoick said, "I'll deal with him personally."

H.T.T.Y.D

"Comfortable?" Hiccup asked the little Terror inside his tunic. Aside from the larger breeds of Dragons in the holding pen, the little Terrible Terror he now sheltered was easily missed. Once freed, the little fellow had tagged along with him and Toothless.

The Night Fury gave a disgruntled snort at the smaller Dragon's special treatment. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh, "What? Are you jealous?"

Toothless shot a plasma blast out in front of them and flew right through the resulting explosion. "Thanks for nothing." Hiccup coughed as soon as they were out of it, and wiped the soot out of his eyes.

The little Terror sneezed, making his own discomfort known. Toothless ignored him.

They had been flying nonstop since the escape. It was farther than any ship had ever sailed.

His father used to tell him stories of monstrous sea Dragons that awaited foolish sailors that dared to travel too far into the unknown waters. He knew full well that there were Giant Eels in the deeper waters. Scauldrons, and Sea Shockers were also a problem if they went too low.

Hiccup cursed himself. That was the one thing he hadn't thought about before leaving. Other Dragons.

Sure he had been thinking about the giant on Dragon Island, but not about what else could be waiting for them. He sighed and tucked the little Terror into his tunic as the little Dragon curled back up, "One step at a time, guys." He said more to himself than to the two Dragons. Toothless gave a softer croon as he glided through the air.

The sun was beginning to climb higher as they flew along, making the young man yawn tiredly. It had been a long night. Longer than any he remembered...and now his eyes were beginning to play tricks on him.

Mist just didn't pop up out of nowhere.

"Huh, Toothless?" He mumbled as the mist grew thicker, beginning to soak into his clothes and hair. "Where're we going, Bud?"

Toothless tilted his head from side to side, trying to get his bearings in the thick of the mist, then let out a pulse from his mouth that reverberated through the quiet. Hiccup hadn't known he could do that until then, and likened it to what bats did in caves. Only now he wasn't getting a response. Toothless whimpered. Something was wrong.

"Maybe we should find a place to land, huh?" He asked, patting his friend's neck as he began to shiver. Toothless let out another pulse, but got nothing in return. There was no land around for them to land on. Now he was beginning to worry. They'd been flying for hours, and Toothless was getting tired. If they didn't find a place to land and soon they wouldn't stand a chance.

A gust of wind suddenly rushed around them, clearing a path through the mist. Both Dragon and Rider saw, to their relief, an island. A large island. "Let's go, Toothless!"

Toothless whipped and twirled through the air down toward the land mass. With each flap of his wings, however, it seemed to get bigger and bigger the closer they got. Hiccup had to marvel at the unknown island as Toothless glided across a coastline. To his surprise, he saw the remains of a great castle amidst a ruined city.

Toothless let out a curious growl as he looked back at his Rider, and the boy shrugged right back. He was just as curious. His father never told him about a place like this. His curiosity getting the better of the both of them, Hiccup directed Toothless toward what looked like the remains of the main gate.

Hiccup looked around for any signs of other people before dismounting. "Wow, would you look at this place?" He sighed as he marveled at the architecture. The wall looked to be some sort of brick carved from quarried stone, and sealed in place by mortar. Nothing like what he was used to back on Berk. Toothless kept close to him as the young man slowly inched his way into the ruined city. Passing under the archway he noticed a set of runes carved into the stone in what looked like Norse, but slightly different.

"So-li-tude?" He said, trying to sound the word out. "Solitude? Strange name for a place like this, huh, guys?" Toothless gave and answering rumble while the little Terror poked his head out to get a better look around.

The trio worked their way through what was once the main square of a market, and then down into a sprawling little village, intending to make their way to the castle.

As they walked Hiccup could tell that there hadn't been anyone in the city for years. The cobblestones that layered the streets were overgrown with grass, and even small trees in some areas. The houses, even though the stone walls had remained strong and tall, had their roofs caving in. Anything made of wood was rotting away.

Except the castle, which seemed to be made completely of stone.

"What happened here?" Hiccup wondered. "Where are all the people?"

His tiny passenger squeaked, pointing a paw toward a clump of grass. Curious, Hiccup went to inspect it and nearly yelped when he saw that the grass covered a skeleton. An armored skeleton.

"A battle?" He bent to inspect the armor, which looked to be made from some sort of green metal he'd never seen before. The armor itself boasted that the warrior wearing it had been a large individual. Very large.

He reached for the helmet, and found something odd about the skull. It still had patches of skin attached to it, which was green, but it also had a slanted brow, and a protruding lower jaw that hosted a pair of...tusks?

"What in the name of the gods were you?" Hiccup wondered as Toothless hissed at something he saw in the grass. Moving the grass aside, Hiccup found what he was so upset about. It was a sword. A curved, green sword that looked to be in fine condition despite being out in the weather for who knew how long. It was also light, and easy for him to hold with both hands, so he tucked it into his belt. "Sorry, Bud, but I don't know if it's safe here." He said to his distressed friend, "I might need this."

Toothless huffed, but relented that his friend did need to protect himself if he found himself busy with too many foes at once. After giving a silent prayer to the dead warrior, whatever he or she had been, the trio moved toward the castle.

H.T.T.Y.D

Even in his wildest dreams Hiccup had never seen anything like the inside of the castle within Solitude. Every window was made of multi-colored glass, letting unbelievably beautiful light. And while much of the massive dwelling lay covered in dust, the castle interior was a work of art compared to the Great Hall of Berk.

Two sets of marbled stairs led up into a throne room. Several corridors led to different studies where there were shelves lined with tome after tome of untouched books of varying design and color. But when he found the actual library, he found out that the castle wasn't a castle at all.

It was a tomb.

The air in the room was stale when he and Toothless pushed the door open, and the rank stench of death hadn't left the air even after so many long years. Not only did he find the mummified remains of the green-skinned being he had found outside, but others with gold, black and red skins that had dulled with time. Their armors were all different, and works of fine art to the young blacksmith.

But one thing caught his attention about the strange corpses. What remained of their ears. All of them tapered off into a rather sharp point. "Elves..." the young man breathed out as he inspected the corpse of a black robed figure that had an arrow stuck in its chest.

All of them seemed to be converging around one solitary person.

At the back of the library lay a figure dressed in heavy bone-like armor. In his right hand was held a massive sword that was carved from the same bony material, while his left held a shield.

Deciding that he had had enough of the stifling room, Hiccup backed out of the room with Toothless and his little Terror perched on his shoulder. "If we're going to stay here," he said to the Dragons, "We're going to have to give them all a proper burial."

H.T.T.Y.D

AN: Yeah, it's a Hiccup leaves home story, but with a Skyrim twist. To sum things up, the Dragonborn is dead, but he will play a role in the coming chapters as Hiccup explores the library. Especially since he's yet to find the Dragonborn's book of Shouts. There's other Magic books in the library, of course, but only time's gonna tell if he'll read them.

Anyway, what'd you people think? Let me know.